Wednesday, November 26, 2014

1963 Jaguar Le Mans D-Type Coupé Special Michelotti

The Jaguar D-Type is a sports racing car that was produced by Jaguar Cars Ltd. between 1954 and 1957. It was powered by a basic Straight-6 XK engine design (initially 3.4 litres and uprated to 3.8 litres in the late fifties). D-Types won the Le Mans 24-hour race in 1955, 1956 and 1957. After Jaguar temporarily retired from racing as a factory team, the company offered the remaining unfinished D-Types as XKSS versions whose extra road-going equipment made them eligible for production sports car races in America. (wikipedia)

This particular Lamborghini/ Ferrari look-a-like started life as a genuine 1956 3.4 litre factory Jaguar D-Type (chassis #XKD513) that ran at Le Mans two years running. After a crash at Le Mans, the remains of this car was sold to coachbuilder Michelotti in Turin, Italy. Some suggested the reason Michelotti built this car was to try and attract the attention of a large British car manufacturer. Michelotti had their own success helping to style a number of European car models.

In 1963 the ex-racing D-type emerged at the Geneva Motor Show, with this elegant two-seater coupe body made from steel. This body was built around the D-type and still shares all the D-types dimensions and wheel track etc. In turn, the engine, transmission and subframes front and rear all still marry up. (network54.com)